CTRL-labs, the startup that’s working on a neural interface technology that uses an armband to capture just your thoughts and movements as digital signals, has agreed to be acquired by Facebook. While the terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal has yet to close, it has been reported that the transaction value is between $500M and $1B with Facebook indicating that the transaction was less than $1B. The deal was announced in a Facebook post by Facebook Vice President of AR/VR Andrew Bosworth.
“We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology. And we want to build them. The vision for this work (CTRL-labs) is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement. Here’s how it’ll work: You have neurons in your spinal cord that send electrical signals to your hand muscles telling them to move in specific ways such as to click a mouse or press a button. The wristband will decode those signals and translate them into a digital signal your device can understand, empowering you with control over your digital life. It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to,” remarked Bosworth.
We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology. And we want to build them. The vision for this work (CTRL-labs) is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement. Here’s how it’ll work: You have neurons in your spinal cord that send electrical signals to your hand muscles telling them to move in specific ways such as to click a mouse or press a button. The wristband will decode those signals and translate them into a digital signal your device can understand, empowering you with control over your digital life. It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to. – Andrew Bosworth
Founded by Patrick Kaifosh, Thomas Reardon, and Timothy Machado in 2017, CTRL-labs has raised a total of $67M in total reported equity funding and is backed by investors that include GV, Matrix Partners, Founders Fund, Spark Capital, Lux Capital, Vulcan Capital, Amazon Alexa Fund, Fuel Capital, and Breyer Capital. The CTRL-labs team will be joining the Facebook Reality Labs division.
Technology like this has the potential to open up new creative possibilities and reimagine 19th century inventions in a 21st century world. This is how our interactions in VR and AR can one day look. It can change the way we connect – Andrew Bosworth
As a footnote, this is symbolic of how far the New York Tech ecosystem has come. The industry is not just about the NYC SaaS and D2C companies that make the majority of headlines. There are deep science companies being built, launched, and acquired in the city. CTR-labs, a company that has yet to even launch a publicly available product, is just another example.
